Author John Ferak’s Work on the “Making A Murderer” Steven Avery Case

Wrongful Convictions At The Crux Of ‘Making A Murderer’ And FAILURE OF JUSTICE

Who would have predicted that a Christmastime 10-part documentary on a true-crime right here in Wisconsin would spark international interest in America’s criminal justice system and the plight of wrongful convictions like we’ve never seen before? My new true crime book, FAILURE OF JUSTICE, describes such a case, as did the Netflix series, ‘Making a Murderer,’ which I’ve written about extensively.

Making A Murderer captured the essence of the story of Steven Avery, an uneducated, easy-going man from rural Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. By age 23, Avery wound up wrongfully imprisoned for a vicious beachfront rape of a prominent Manitowoc business woman who was attacked while jogging along the sandy shores of Lake Michigan.

Avery professed his innocence. He produced multiple eyewitnesses who assured the court that Avery was home and working around his family’s salvage yard business at the time of the rape 15 minutes away.

It didn’t matter. A jury of Manitowoc County residents found Avery guilty. He lost 18 years of freedom to a wrongful conviction. The real predator, Gregory Allen, went on to rape and harm other women. He was finally caught in 1995 in Green Bay.

Two years after his exoneration, Avery was accused of murdering 25-year-old Teresa Halbach. She was a small-town Wisconsin farm girl and a regular visitor to the Avery Salvage Yard because of her free-lance job with Auto Trader magazine. In 2007, in separate jury trials, Avery and his teenage nephew, Brendan Dassey, were both convicted of the murder. The Netflix series sparked debate about the legitimacy of both murder convictions, such as whether they were framed by police authorities, received fair trials, and if the Wisconsin authorities identified the right killer.

Because of the huge interest in ‘Making a Murderer’ I’ve been busy the past several months as an investigative journalist here in Wisconsin. I’ve continued to dig into the Halbach murder case and uncover fresh story angles for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. In late April, I made my first-ever visit to the Avery Salvage Yard where I spent a few hours with Steven Avery’s brothers, Chuck and Earl, plus their parents, Allan and Delores. The Averys all remain hopeful that Illinois-based attorney Kathleen Zellner will be able to overturn Steven Avery’s conviction, as she has proclaimed on social media that she will eventually do.

Here are the links to my articles about the Steven Avery, ‘Making A Murderer,” case:

Like the series “Making a Murderer,” John Ferak’s new true crime book from WildBlue Press, FAILURE OF JUSTICE, also shines light on a wrongful conviction case. FAILURE OF JUSTICE details the wrongful imprisonment of those involved in the Beatrice 6 case, the largest wrongful conviction case ever in the U.S. Get your copy today!

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Posts by John Ferak

Read On About WildBlue Press Author John Ferak's Connection To The Case
WildBlue Press author John Ferak has done extensive work on the Steven Avery case featured in Netflix's "Making A Murderer." … More...

Investigative journalist and WildBlue Press author John Ferak has done extensive work on the Steven Avery Case, which has been detailed on the Netflix original "Making a Murderer." Check out John's … More...

Since embarking on this wrongful conviction book project in January of 2014, A FAILURE OF JUSTICE underwent multiple revisions. One of my early drafts contained a curious older gentleman named Earl. … More...

A federal civil rights jury in Nebraska has dinged Gage County, Sheriff's Corporal Burt Searcey, deputy/psychologist Wayne Price and the estate of late sheriff Jerry DeWitt to the tune of more than … More...

Lincoln, Nebraska. That's where the media spotlight returned this past week. A handful of journalists are covering the plight of the Beatrice 6. It's now been eight years since Beatrice, Nebraska, … More...

John Ferak’s Media Appearances

In 2018, WildBlue Press released 29 new titles! Among those titles, twenty-one were under the true crime genre, four were thrillers, two mysteries, and one business book as well as one fantasy book.
From winning awards to being featured on

John Ferak, author of WildBlue's hit true crime book FAILURE OF JUSTICE, was recently featured on the True Murder radio show with host Dan Zupansky to discuss his book. FAILURE OF JUSTICE details the case of the Beatrice Six, which is the largest

Watch John Ferak's interview with Al Warren on The House of Mystery Radio Show. John discusses his new true crime book, FAILURE OF JUSTICE, which details the largest wrongful conviction case in U.S. history! Get your copy of FAILURE OF JUSTICE

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